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E46 (1999 - 2006) The fourth generation 3 Series (E46 chassis) was introduced in 1999 and set the standard for engineering and performance during it's years of production including being named to Car & Driver's 10 best list every one of those years! ! -- View the E46 Wiki

Okay, I'm pissed. I went about changing my oil which I've done a million times on various vehicles. Drained the oil from the pan. Put the new crush washer on the drain plug. Set my my torque wrench to 18 lb-ft/25nM. Started tightening the drain plug when suddenly.....swoosh - the plug started to spin almost freely in the drain pan. Every rotation, however, there would be one point where it would "tighten" up. So I took a small, thin flat bladed screwdriver and wedged it in between the crush washer and the oil pan. Then, while pushing outward on the plug I slowly tried to unscrew the drain plug. Now it spins completely freely.

So, now I've got no oil in the car and a stripped drain plug. What are my options? Can I fill it w/ oil and then drive it to a nearby indy tomorrow? Do I have to have it towed?

Okay, I'm pissed. I went about changing my oil which I've done a million times on various vehicles. Drained the oil from the pan. Put the new crush washer on the drain plug. Set my my torque wrench to 18 lb-ft/25nM. Started tightening the drain plug when suddenly.....swoosh - the plug started to spin freely in the drain pan.

So, now I've got no oil in the car and a stripped drain plug. What are my options? Can I fill it w/ oil and then drive it to a nearby indy tomorrow? Do I have to have it towed?

AARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you just spin the head off? I think the drain bolt is hollow for just such emergencies. Go to the Home Depot and buy a screw extractor, easy to do if thats the case.

Did you just spin the head off? I think the drain bolt is hollow for just such emergencies. Go to the Home Depot and buy a screw extractor, easy to do if thats the case.

I'd edited my post to ad this while you were replying, btw.

Quote:

Every rotation, however, there would be one point where it would "tighten" up. So I took a small, thin flat bladed screwdriver and wedged it in between the crush washer and the oil pan. Then, while pushing outward on the plug I slowly tried to unscrew the drain plug. Now it spins completely freely.

There are a couple of possible solutions to this....one is to use a Heli-Coil insert (like an oversized plugs with threads on both the inside and outside), the other is to take the pan off and have someone heliarc the plug hole, then drill & rethread the hole. Either one is a lot cheaper than buying a new pan. Good luck.

Very unlikely anything is wrong with the oil pan. Oil pan threads are hardened and are intended to be much stronger than the drain plug. Factory plug is hollow and unusually snap before it strips. Aftermarket plugs are not hollow and will strip.

Need to get the plug out any way you can and there is a very good chance the oil pan is fine. Had the exact same thing happen on a BMW V8. As I was tightening the plug, the torque as going down. New plug solved the problem. Try with vice grips unscrewing while pulling out on the plug.

I've been wrenching on cars for 30 years and have never encountered a stripped drain plug. I can only assume this is the result of Quickylube type oil change places.

My guess is that it was either crossthreaded or installed with an impact wrench.

Right now the threaded part is still in the threads in the drain pan. I think what happened is I didn't strip the bolt so much as I started to shear of the bolt head. Now I've just taken the whole damn bolt head completely off.

Well, big thanks to EVERYONE. I have finally removed the threaded part of the bolt from the oil pan. As I eventually suspected, neither the pan nor the bolt were stripped. Rather, the head was just shearing off.

Well, big thanks to EVERYONE. I have finally removed the threaded part of the bolt from the oil pan. As I eventually suspected, neither the pan nor the bolt were stripped. Rather, the head was just shearing off.

Now I'm off to AutoZone to get a new drain plug and crush washer.

THANKS AGAIN, EVERYONE!!!!!

The Autozone plug will work in a pinch but is unlikely to be hollow like the factory plug. You will need to get that at the dealer. I always keep extras around.

Here's a tip... it's an oil drain plug, not a main bearing cap There's no need to torque the living daylights out of it.
It has a copper crush washer to help seal it... 12 ft/lb is fine, especially if you have a cheap torque wrench.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Fast Bob

JUST...LOOK...UNDER...THE...CAR....for Chrissakes....it`s like checking to see if a dog is male or female....

Quote:

Originally Posted by smolck

A bimmer with forced induction should have a proper manual gearbox. Anything less is like french kissing your sister.

Here's a tip... it's an oil drain plug, not a main bearing cap There's no need to torque the living daylights out of it.
It has a copper crush washer to help seal it... 12 ft/lb is fine, especially if you have a cheap torque wrench.

+1.

To the OP - Glad everything worked out fine. DIY can have some hair-raising moments...but you kept your cool and made use of the best E46 board on the planet.

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“Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that’s right is to get by, and the only thing that’s wrong is to get caught.”

Here's a tip... it's an oil drain plug, not a main bearing cap There's no need to torque the living daylights out of it.
It has a copper crush washer to help seal it... 12 ft/lb is fine, especially if you have a cheap torque wrench.

+1.

I have NEVER used a torque wrench for an oil change (or spark plugs for that matter). Tight is tight is my motto. On the oil pan bolt I use my hand to turn the socket and get it tight then hit it with my socket about 1/4-1/2 turn more, thats all it needs.

I'd never used a torque wrench either...at least not on the oil change. 18 lb-ft/25nM is the spec I found searching over at E46 fanatics so that's what I went with. The wrench itself is ~$120 new and was brand new so I can't imagine it was off by all that much. Very odd indeed. I'm definitely going back to doing the drain plug by feel from now on.